


Bildungsroman

by clehjett



Category: Hannibal (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - High School, Boys Kissing, Car Sex, Consensual Underage Sex, F/F, F/M, Friends to Enemies to Lovers, Hannibal Lecter Loves Will Graham, Hormones, Horny Teenagers, Jealousy, M/M, Manipulation, Obsessive Behavior, Poor Will Graham, Possessive Behavior, Possessive Hannibal Lecter, Poverty, Prom, Protective Hannibal Lecter, Psychological Drama, Teen Angst, Teen Crush, Teen Romance, Teenage Drama, Teenagers, Underage Drinking, Underage Kissing, Underage Sex, Unrequited Crush, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-10
Updated: 2020-01-10
Packaged: 2021-02-27 06:53:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,171
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22192843
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/clehjett/pseuds/clehjett
Summary: Will Graham is on a scholarship to a prestigious private boarding school where he meets a boy he will never forget. Thus begins an intense friendship that goes through its ups and downs. Hannibal has agendas of his own, and wants Will for himself. And Will finds his dark side but ultimately has to decide between his darkness and Hannibal, or the good and the boring.
Relationships: Alana Bloom/Hannibal Lecter, Alana Bloom/Will Graham, Bedelia Du Maurier & Hannibal Lecter, Bedelia Du Maurier/Hannibal Lecter, Beverly Katz & Jimmy Price & Brian Zeller, Matthew Brown & Will Graham, Matthew Brown/Will Graham, Molly Graham & Will Graham, Molly Graham/Will Graham, Will Graham & Beverly Katz, Will Graham & Hannibal Lecter, Will Graham/Hannibal Lecter
Comments: 13
Kudos: 75





	Bildungsroman

**Author's Note:**

> I don't like the title might change
> 
> HELLO. And welcome to another episode of 'here is another WIP when i have 6 other WIPs'
> 
> I apologise
> 
> Hell yeah High School Musical chapter title

Will Graham was perfectly normal in every way. He had plain dark hair with curls that could never be tamed. He had blue eyes that changed colours in different lights, but other people did too. The only thing extraordinary about him, in his mind was that he was bookish, observant due to his shy nature, and with a bit of an overactive empathy and imagination. When he was a child, his father would say he would make the most fantastic tales of things that never happened. Or describe people as if they were tales of lore. He would lose himself to a book and no amount of calling him to eat would break him out of it save for a smack to the head, according to his father. He was plain, poor and quiet. Nothing special or remarkable. Just a keen mind and a good heart. His father told him that was a good thing when a girl called him ugly and he came home crying. It was better to be ugly and smart than beautiful and dumb. 

When Will was 12 he sat for a test that everyone at his age  took. Everyone moaned and Samuel Peller complained loudly, only to be sentenced to an hour of detention when he called it a ‘piece of shit’. Will on the other hand, was curious. This test was not a standardised one, nor was it on the state district’s testing criteria.  So he had diligently answered the questions. He would admit that it was tough, it challenged him in a way that he had never been challenged before. But it excited him because it had asked questions that none of his teachers had asked before nor any test had thought to think about. There were several things he made a note to go to the local library to read up on for further  research , having no laptop of his own or computer or internet. 

After the test, the collective groans of the mentally exhausted class surrounded him. He felt the mental fatigue as well. But he was slightly refreshed at the things he had to look up on. When he was asked if he thought the test was hard, he said yes but kept his opinion to himself. It helped that it was not something that his future depended on. It was just a random intriguing pop quiz that everyone was given. He headed straight for the library 10 minutes away from the school after that. And got caught up in the reading until it got dark and the librarian prodded him to go home before the sun set. Gathering up a few books he could check out, having already reached his limit of books he could borrow before so he could not borrow all them, he stopped by the desk and hurried home. His ratty backpack heavier than usual for once. 

He arrived home in time to break out the microwavable meals for himself and his father, and pop it in before the man shrugged through the door. They sat and ate while Will told his father all about it. His father only smiled encouragingly, having had a long day. Will did not mind. He was tired too. He had no idea that his life would be different the next day. That his life would change all from this opportunity. 

* * *

Boarding school was different hell for Will. Before, kids were neutral to people they felt were odd. Here, it was as if money and your parents’ status made you entitled to judge others and feel yourself superior. The student population had its fair share of trust fund babies, lawyers’ kids, or megacorporation heirs. But despite outnumbering the ‘rich’ kids 6:4, it did not stop the few from tormenting the many. Will had a rough few months, being the new kid, and poor. Though it was not immediately apparent with the new expensive school uniform he had to buy and the small shabby suitcase his father gave him, the other children quickly found out and made him pay for his lot in life. The uniform was expensive, but his father joked and said that would mean that he would save on laundry. The suitcase had Will’s initials on it – a remnant of his mother who sewed it on the tough fabric a few years before she left. The day his father dropped him off,  Will felt like crying. And each day he was sneered at, laughed at or shoved, he thought of his father, his old school, and that last day he was so happy to learn something new. 

His new school was posh, but it was worth every penny. Will had been offered a scholarship. For ‘gifted individuals’, sponsored by the state. Will’s father was beside himself with relief. He was happy his son was moving on to something better. And that he did not have to worry about coming home to him every day. This meant that he could travel further for work. He could stay out longer and take more jobs. It also meant that Will never had visitors. And seldom had mail. He did not mind the solitude so much. He was an independent kid even in his previous school. He just missed having someone to talk to. His father would call once a month to check in on him when he had the time. And once in a while he would receive a postcard from a new place that his father would travel to. Will kept each one, and discreetly stored them in a box on his bedside table. He had a single room, one of the older cheaper ones, since the scholarship would provide for his education, but still cheap out on the accommodations. Will was happy with it. He had a tiny narrow room with a bed, desk and cupboard and drawer. The shower and toilet  were a communal one shared amongst the entire floor. It was only wide enough for one person. And most of the other kids, especially those who could afford it would shit on the building Will lived in, being old, rickety wood, small and to their mind of greater concern – not conducive to ‘conjugal visits’ from romantic partners. All of these factors did not deter Will, having lived poor all his life. He was overjoyed by the simple fact it had heating in winter, and the sun never shone in his face in the mornings. Summers were tougher because he only had a single fan to work with. But he only had to open his window wide and sleep in his boxers. And since he was alone and few lived in the block with him, it was not a problem. 

The curriculum was also a plus. Much like the test, it was challenging for Will. And he was greatly stimulated. Often, he would go to bed at night, his mind swirling with the new knowledge, and he would stay up late studying up. His classmates were thankfully kind to him and called him a bookworm. But if that was the worst, he got from them, he would deal with it. He had several kind friends that would sit with him at lunch, where he would eat his fill of the buffet, if no one knocked it to the ground before he could eat it that is. Beverly was fiery and feisty. Brian deadpan but loyal. Jimmy gay and wise. And Alana, sweet, pretty and gorgeous. Will knew it was a crush, but he could not help hoping for more. He was also smart enough not to act on his feelings, knowing that Alana was ‘popular’, despite being middle class. Her natural beauty drew boys to her, and her maturity earned their respect. Will was thankful he had a group of friends  to sit with, even if they did not live in his building, and it was often walking back to his dorm would Mason Verger and Fred Chilton come to throw abuse at him both physically and vocally. 

It was in his third month into  Ravenstag Acadamy that he met Hannibal Lecter. He was perusing the lists of the clubs, and having decided that the safest course of action was the Forensics club, since Bev, Brian and Jimmy were all there, he had signed his name at the bottom of the paper. In timid small letters, unassuming and hoping no one would notice its presence, the words were pencilled on the board. He did not have to join club activities. But he knew it was better to draw social circles and associations than the alternative. This school was a death trap, and if you were weak and alone, you would be chewed up alive. 

As he turned the corner from the school library, he collided with a very tall and solid mass. 

“Oof.” the air was knocked out of him. But before he could make contact with the wood floor, a strong arm wrapped around his and he was yanked into a solid chest. His books clattered to the floor and he cringed at the damage to the paper and the spines. Instinctively, he looks up. Right into the warm amber eyes of a ‘richie’. He is taller than him by half a head, his hair is perfectly styled (with product Will has no money or time to spend on), his uniform, though exactly the same as Will’s, is crisp and smells like lavender and he smiles down at Will. 

“Hello.” he whispers.

Will’s face bursts into flames and he immediately  wrenches himself away from the boy. Though they are in the same year, Hannibal Lecter gives the air of one older than his years. He almost looks older. And given that he is not only rich but also head Prefect, he is basically the king of the school. And Will has just smashed into him. 

“OH! I am so sorry! I’m sorry! I--!” if Will could prostrate  himself, he would but he would settle for kneeling and frantically gathering his borrowed books as fast as possible to get the hell out of this man’s way before he could send a scathing look his way.

He was met instead with an amused chuckle and to his surprise, the little prince of the realm kneels down beside him and helps him pick up his books. He releases Will’s eyes to study the titles of the books and in his expression changes to show a spark of interest in them. 

“Dante? And Advanced Psychology? My, you are quite the bibliophile.” Hannibal remarks. His interest in this quiet boy he has heard is brilliant but shy from teachers, and dirty and insignificant from his ‘peers’ has been unattended since the boy had arrived. Not one to let the herd mentality sway him, he was delighted to quite literally run into the new arrival he had heard so much about. At first glance, he was mousy and shy, albeit a bit plain. But as Hannibal observed him, that opinion changed. He had the most gorgeous eyes, like a mix of the sky and sea on a brilliant day. They changed when he was frightened and it darkened when they had collided, and now it was a stormy grey. He had the classical features of a Botticelli, and it reminded him of the lusty muses that surrounded him when he was in school in Italy. Older boys that wanted to emulate the classics and mould an immovable Hannibal to their image, not knowing he was already shaped to steel. He was a beauty, with a brain, and that delighted him. Although all that left his mouth now was the simpering whimpers of most the flock of sheep Hannibal encountered. The boy had already been socialised to protect himself by making himself small. But seeing the intelligence behind his eyes, Hannibal knew he could be so much more. 

So, he resolved to be his friend. 

“No worries.” Hannibal smiles charmingly. The smile did not affect Will Graham, nor the eye contact that he so desperately avoided. He all but snatched the books out of his hands, and bowing his head, scampered out of the library. Hannibal turned to watch him go even as he muttered apology after apology for something that was not his fault, for he feared repercussion. As Will disappeared past the door, Hannibal looked back at the warm spot that Will had left in his wake. Already his arms felt empty and cold from his departure. And he turned to survey what Will had been doing before this. Perhaps studying at one of the alcove desks? But as he scanned the area, his eyes drew to the timid pencilled name on the board of club activities. So small, unassuming. Though Hannibal would yet to become a psychiatrist, for many years to come, he could see all the hallmarks of neuroses that plagued Will Graham. Setting a gentle finger over the words, Hannibal lightly caressed the shy dents on the paper, and smiled.

**Author's Note:**

> KUDO AND SUBSCRIBE :D
> 
> Comment to tell me I’m doing good
> 
> P. S. I do not consent to my work being reposted or used in any capacity elsewhere without my permission  
> Please do not repost or use my works in any ‘unofficial apps’


End file.
